There was an “elephant in the room” when Ironmouse and Mori Calliope came together for a huge collab on the former’s podcast Speak of the Devil — fan sentiment from the Hololive side. However, Ironmouse spoke out about the overbearing fan behavior.
The VTubing world can be vicious at times. While these virtual stars are often given some level of autonomy (or completely, depending on status within an agency), the scene’s roots in Japanese idol culture can lead to some audience complications.
Some fans can be quite overbearing over their favorite stars — and while sometimes it’s just for fun, others can take it to the next level. Trying to dictate who their favorite collabs with, how they act: they don’t ultimately set the rules, but the pressure is definitely there.
So when VShojo’s Ironmouse had Hololive star (and self-proclaimed dad) Mori Calliope on her podcast, eyes were on how the two would act on broadcast — especially with how Mousey treats Calli.
However, Iron went out of her way to address the “elephant in the room” early, asking fans to stop dictating the lives of their favorite virtual star.
“I’m sick and tired of not talking about this — every time I talk to a Hololive girl, everyone gets pissed at me. It always happens, and I know why. We all know why,” she said.
“Lately I’ve seen comments on YouTube where it’s like ‘Ironmouse is fine, she knows how to behave around the Hololive girls’ and… I think I just destroyed everyone’s opinion now with what I’ve just said.
“Sometimes I just want to talk and say things because I say stuff, I have eyeballs, and you’re my friend. We’re friends. But I feel like sometimes people don’t believe that people are friends, like friendship is dead.”
The relevant segment begins at 9:54.
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The sentiment was backed up by Calli. The two come from very different agencies — Hololive stars do play a character somewhat while VShojo gives full creative control over.
If fans don’t like it if Calli interacts with others outside of Hololive in a specific way though, tough luck.
“Not liking it is one thing, but going out of your way to be a dick [is another]. [You ask] why don’t you do something else and then people respond with something edgy like ‘it’s about sending a message’ — some Joker sh*t,” she said, responding to some more general criticisms about the community.
“They’re entitled to their opinions. If you don’t like me I get it. I just don’t care.”
While Calli did admit speaking out against fan behavior can be “kind of unsavory” and that she has “reel it in sometimes and keep things between friends when I really want to go off,” the duo’s statement got the support of Twitch chat who were watching along.
Calli also stated “as long as [she’s] chill”, it’s all good from a management perspective.
It can be hard to ignore the negative sentiment online, Mouse added, but she ultimately just wants fans to treat those behind the avatar like real humans — because they are.
